Lemon Chicken

Overheard at the market, “I’m a breast girl.” “Really? I’m definitely a thigh girl,” pause…”dark meat, so much more flavor.” Had to laugh, I’m so so so much a thigh girl myself. Here is the secret to fabulous lemon chicken – use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or legs, but thighs are easier to eat). Lemon is acidic and greatly benefits from the balance of the stronger flavor of the dark meat in thighs and legs, and the fat from the chicken skin. You don’t have to eat the skin (my father doesn’t, he gives them to me, score!), but cook with them on for the flavor.

What we most love about this recipe is that it is a classic American lemon chicken recipe without being too lemony. In other words, it doesn’t make your lips pucker, it has just the right amount of lemon flavor to it.

Method

1 Place lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, whisk to combine. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut into each chicken piece one or two times by about 1/2 an inch. (This will help the marinade penetrate.) Place the chicken pieces and the marinade in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Rotate the bag so that all chicken pieces are coated with the marinade. Seal the bag and place in a bowl in the refrigerator (in case of leakage). Let marinate for 2 hours.

2 Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a single layer in a large baking dish, skin side up. Reserve the marinade. Use a pastry brush to brush a little melted butter on to each piece of chicken.

3 Bake for a total of 50 to 55 minutes, until the skins are crispy brown, and the chicken is cooked through, juices running clear (breasts have an internal temperature of 165°F and thighs 175°F). Half-way through the baking, at about the 25 minute mark, baste the chicken pieces generously with reserved marinade.

Depending on the size of the breasts, they may be ready before the thighs, so if you are cooking a mix of chicken parts, keep that in mind, you may have to take them out of the oven before the thighs.

Let rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before serving.

4 Pour the juices from the pan into a serving bowl. Use a tablespoon to skim the fat off the top (save the fat for cooking with later, or discard, but do not discard down the drain or it will solidify and clog your drain). Serve the chicken with the juices on the side or a little poured over the top of the chicken.

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I am breast girl but I love those chicken legs too!
Your recipe is very close to the roasted chicken I cook with this exception.
Like you, I roast at 425 but only for 30 minutes to crisp the skin, then I drop the temperature to 350 so I don’t have to baste. It keeps most of the juices in the chicken. I roast for an hour or so till chicken is done depending on the size of the chicken.
I am a fan of lemon; I buy dry lemon peel in bulk so it goes in alot of things like salad dressing, veggies, and anything roasted or grilled. I love lemon juice to tenderize meats.

Elise,
No oil in the marinade? I’m shocked! But perhaps I’ll try it. My traditional welcome-to-the-grilling-season meal is charcoal-grilled lemon chicken, fruit pilaf, a salad, and Pimms’ No. 1 Cup with soda and lime. Alas, a new county fire ordinance means grilling is no longer an option for me.

What I love about this blog is that, unlike on the food network website, ALL of the recipes are good. Pick any recipe. Bam. Delicious.

This was no exception, and CHEAP! 5 lbs of thighs for 3.44. I made it tonight. My husband is away for an internship for a month and I am alone with our babies, and this recipe was just a little more work than a frozen dinner! I wasn’t able to baste and it still turned out amazing.

Thanks for this recipe! I had a couple of lemons I wanted to use, so when I saw this recipe I bought some chicken and made it tonight. A success! All the flavors were wonderful together. I added some grated fresh garlic and paprika to the seasonings. Delicious!

This sounds delicious and easy and I mean to try it very soon! Just one thing: I don’t buy plastic things like gallon freezer bags. Why not marinate the chicken in a baking dish or corningware, and forego the plastic? Thanks!

I have a general question regarding marinade times. When a recipe calls for 2 hours marinade time, is that concrete? Especially with a marinade like this that is all acid and no lipid? I would love to have this on hand as a go-to, but since I hate to skimp on marinate times, it just doesn’t fit into a weeknight schedule. Do you have any tips?

Can this be marinated overnight (for convenience)… or will it be too lemony or to tart?

More likely too mushy as the acidity of the lemon juice will begin to break down the protein fibers of the chicken. If I were pressed for time I would just marinate the chicken less rather than over night. ~Elise

THANK YOU, ELISE! for another wonderful recipe. I made this for dinner tonight, and it was so perfect. I didn’t change any of the ingredients or your instructions. The end result was as you said: not too lemony. You know it is lemon and garlic but the flavors are not overpowering. I think the skin must be eaten as that has so much of the flavors within it. (I’ve convinced myself that the fat has baked off and, therefore, not as many fat grams.) I served this with jasmine rice. This would be perfect for company. I’ll make it again and again.

Hey everyone I made this the other night and put it in the fridge for what was supposed to be a few hours and it turned into a couple of days before I could bake it–it was delicious and I did not think the fiber of the meat was broken down–the spices had a nice time to permiate the chicken and it was making my guests mouths water–a side note I did not have any lemons and used lime juice it was superb!

I made this for dinner tonight and it turned out just like your picture. I just made 4 thighs for my husband and I along with a baked sweet potato and salad. It was so tasty and easy. Thanks for the recipe.

This recipe was amazing! I LOOOVVVE all things lemon and was looking for a new way to do chicken and this fit the bill. As my husband said when it came out of the oven – “It looks just like the picture!” (clearly not all my meals accomplish that). FABULOUS!!!

Absolutely fantastic!
We could taste the lemon, but it wasn’t too lemony.
Very easy to prepare.
I baked the thighs and drumsticks first, but gave them a crispy boost on the grill.
Will do it again for sure!

Thank you for this recipe. I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was amazing and so tasty. I will definitly make this again. This was great. Thank you again. My son wants to try the pineapple upside down cake next.

Just thought I’d let you know that I did try this recipe out the other week, and two more times since then! It’s fantastic. You’re right, the lemon isn’t overpowering at all. It’s one of our new favorite chicken recipes.

Great recipe, thanks. I am not usually a big fan of lemon chicken – mostly because the lemon is always overpowering. This was not, it was the perfect amount! We did alter the recipe a little we had limes so we used lime and lemons & we cooked the chicken on the BBQ. It was too nice outside not to light it up!

My husband said this was the best chicken dish I’d ever made. It was really delicious! And with no fat in the marinade and just a little butter on top, I didn’t have any pangs of guilt about eating the skin.

I let in marinate about 4 hours- got it started while the kiddo was napping – with no problems.

Made this tonight for dinner – Scrumptious!
Only marinated for an hour so will try 2 next time but was very good. Roasted up some red pepper and yellow grape tomatoes for 15 mins with some thyme and olive oil and mixed them in with the chicken and some brown rice. Lovely. With the left over lemon marinade mixed in with the rice – it turned out really well.
Definitely a keeper!

Tried this tonight but added a bit of white wine to the marinade. Quite good but still a bit lemony for my taste and I only marinaded an hour. Maybe my lemons are stronger flavored somehow…. Still quite good. I had fresh rosemary but dried thyme, homegrown garlic, homegrown lemons. Love anything I can make that is mostly homegrown.

Just a comment about marinating overnight, I make a lemon marinade for grilling chicken thighs (dark meat girl as well!), it’s just lemon juice, beer (one bottle), sliced onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and cilantro, I throw everything in a big bowl (including the juice lemon rinds), mix well and cover with plastic wrap over night and grill the next day. Serve with home-made salsas, beans, rice and home-made flour tortillas or corn (store-bought). No one’s ever thought it was too mushy. Maybe it’s a preference though?

If you are including beer in the marinade, that is diluting the acid of the lemon juice, which is a good thing if you are marinading overnight. ~Elise

Mmmm…super tangy and delicious. I scored a big vat of Meyer lemons from a friend’s tree and came across this recipe while searching for something to make with lemon and chicken. As a thigh girl myself, I loved the crisp crunchy goodness of the lemony chicken skin. Definitely not a low-cal recipe but really tasty nevertheless. Thanks!

Oh my gosh – this was so easy and absolutely delicious! We only used dark meat and served it with a ‘Provencal’ White Bean side dish. I will definitely make this for our Valentine’s Dinner Party this weekend, as it can be done ahead and just thrown in the oven when the guests arrive so that I, too, may enjoy cocktail hour without slaving in the kitchen! Another fabulous recipe – thanks, Elise!

This was a really great tasting and easy to make recipe. Never used lemon zest before. Since I am a former vegetarian I was not use to cooking meat, but the steps here were super easy to follow and clear.

I am from south Louisiana and if you are also, this recipe may not be for you. It’s ok, I would try it again, but only while making a few changes. Of course you would need to season it like a cajun to improve it (haha), but you definitely need to dilute the lemon juice!! It is way too much lemon, it overpowers everything. It would be good with a lighter lemon flavor instead of it being so tart. Also, u could cut back just a little bit on the rosemary and thyme.

I have made this dish many times. It is a big seller and usually no left overs. However, when there has been left overs, I have eaten them cold and it is great. Perfect lunch the next day with some rice and vegi.

My husband made this recipe while I was at work. I thought it was very good, but maybe we would use little less thyme and rosemary next time. Also I would not call this a marinade but would call it a recipe for a chicken rub.

I have commented on this before a couple years ago, but I want to let you know that this is a monthly, if not almost weekly staple in our home. My twin two year old boys LOVE it. It only takes me 5 minutes to whip up the marinade now and I have the recipe memorized!

Delicious combination of lemon and herbs. The flavor reminds me of Greek country food, which is one of my favorite cuisines. Simple goodness, especially with fresh herbs.

Thigh meat has sometimes gotten a bad rap for being fattier, but there are ways to control the amount of fat you actually eat, until it’s not much different from white meat — and more recently there have been studies and such coming out that show dark meat of poultry to be a good deal higher in iron and other minerals.

Well, I’m a breast girl. I am learning to like the dark meat since I found out that soaking the chicken in water with just a pinch of salt will render all the bloody guck from around the bone. In this recipe, using the breast, I add some light olive oil to the marinade (and some red pepper flakes) and bake as directed. The oil helps keep the meat moist.

We usually use oregano in place of the rosemary but either way, this is probably my absolute FAVORITE way to flavor chicken. Sooooo good! And I’ve had lemon on my mind. Going to make a batch of thighs this weekend!

I wish I had a lemon tree. This recipe looks really good. Guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow? My one question is, I have been buying free-run chickens and I notice they are a little tougher. I am wondering if the marinade will tenderize the meat? I am a seasoned cook. Ha, ha, but don’t know much about marinating.

Thanks Elise, I noticed most of your chicken recipes don’t call for brining. Any particular reason why you don’t brine? I made the lemon chicken with the following revisions last night and it was fantastic: brined the chicken pieces (all bone in thighs with skin) for 40 minutes in two quarts of water in which I dissolved 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbls of vodka, and the zest and juice of half a lemon. Thoroughly dried the chicken with paper towels before placing it in the marinade. Also subbed 1 tbls of chopped fresh Greek oregano for 1 tbls of the thyme and grilled rather than baked the chicken, brushing the thighs with olive oil before grilling.

Hi Mark, I guess I don’t brine because I haven’t found a need to. The chicken we make turns out moist and flavorful without brining, unless of course we over cook it. Brining can help expand that window between done and overcooked, so if it works for you, great! ~Elise

I made this with a bunch of drumsticks and thighs and it turned out great following the recipe. I used the remaining meat to make a lemony chicken noodle soup for tomorrow. I sampled it after if was done and it was so good. I love the addition of lemon in a chicken soup.

What could have happened? I followed the recipe exactly, but I had only skinless chicken thighs and they are stewing right now in the oven, totally colourless. I guess I will have to put them under the griller for a moment. I am so disappointed. They look nothing like the photos but I hope that they will taste good anyway.

Well, if you don’t have the skins, then they aren’t going to look anything like the photos. The skins provide a lot of flavor here, and help keep the meat from drying out. I wouldn’t do this recipe without them. ~Elise

Elise, I poured off the juice to stop the stewing and I did not bother grilling the thighs. They tasted absolutely divine. Will do the recipe again with chicken thighs with the skin on. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Elise, this was so, so good. I made it last night with super cheap chicken and was astounded at how tasty it was. So we’re having it again tonight! Chicken is from the butcher this time. I’m on a diet and this works perfectly. Hope that my daughter will like it too. If not – all the more for me!

Moist and tender despite the surprisingly long cooking time. No need to brine when the recipe is so good as is.

Just cooked this today. I wasn’t left with a lot of juice (or any) but that was because I wasn’t checking it in the oven and so the juice just burnt (this is only my second “real” dish, haha!). That said, the chicken came out pretty good! I’m hoping to revisit this recipe again! Thanks!

For years I’ve been looking for lemon chicken as good as what my mom used to make, and this just may be it! I doubled the marinade and brushed the chicken with duck fat before cooking instead of butter (my wife is allergic to dairy products), but otherwise stuck to the recipe and the results were excellent.

Thighs would have been my first choice, but I had a whole cut up chicken on hand so that’s what I used. The breast meat came out moist and delicious — especially with some of the defatted drippings ladled on. I look forward to making this again!

I made this chicken for my family last week and it was absolutely delicious. I used all chicken parts and they all turned out moist and so flavorful. I did double the marinade because the first batch covered most of the chicken so I made another batch to baste with.

WONDERFUL! I’ve made this twice now and it’s come out great both times. The second time I skipped the butter and forgot to baste but just spooned the juices from the pan over the chicken before serving. I also marinated the chicken for more than the recommended two hours both times (anywhere from 5-8 hours) and everything was fine. Thanks Elise!

WOW I made this a few weeks ago and it was fantastic, both the first time and cold the next day for lunch. I am going to make this again today, in fact my chicken thighs are in the fridge right now marinating, and I have a question for you. How would you recommend preventing the juices from splattering all over the oven? The marinade and the chicken fat just covered my oven in sticky juice last time. Could I use the glass lid that goes with my Pyrex basking dish, or put a piece of foil over the top? Both of these options seem like they would change the way the dish cooks. This very tiny issue won’t prevent me from making the dish, but I was wondering if you had any suggestions. Thanks :)

Hmmm, chicken does tend to splatter. Try to use a high sided roasting pan (2-inch sides), that might help catch some of the splatter. Definitely do not tightly cover, or you’ll end up with steamed chicken not roasted chicken. ~Elise

I just made this last night and served it with baked lemon rice & frozen artichoke hearts sautéed in lemon butter. It was absolutely delicious. My husband and father in law were oohing and ahhing throughout the dinner.

The marinade didn’t seem to be enough, there certainly wasn’t any left over to baste with; so next time I’d double the marinade. Otherwise, perfect.

I’m a 12 year vegetarian. I was making Christmas dinner for a ardently committed carnivore. I wanted something that would be fairly simple to do since I’m unused to cooking meat and didn’t want to kill him. I found your recipe (been following your excellent blog for a few months!), bought some happy chicken thighs, and whipped this up really quickly. (For sides I had some sauteed kale/cranberry/raisin/walnuts and baked sweet potato)

The humanely treated, organic, free range chicken thighs (more expensive, but much better) were very flavorful and a really good complement to the subtle and tangy marinade. The chicken turned out really, really moist and flavorful. The drippings in the pan were terrific! Highly recommend scraping these up. Thanks for the yummy, easy recipe!

Wow, is this amazing! I was skeptical about piercing the chicken for fear of losing all the wonderful juices, but it turned out far better than I imagined it would–juicy and tender with a delicious golden brown skin! Used 2 breast halves, split, and 6 thighs, about 3 lbs of bone in meat. Tripled the garlic (we are garlic people) and adjusted the herbs to taste, but this is by far the best recipe I’ve used for Lemon Chicken! Keep up the good work, I love reading your entries and recipes!

What made your recipe the best I could find (outside of the fact that it tastes so good) is that you don’t batter the chicken (plus points). But I don’t use butter so substitute olive oil infused with lemon (you can get some with Meyer lemons but I like the regular lemon flavor better since it doesn’t distract from the other ingredients) and olive oil infused with garlic mixed together. Yum.

I made this last week. But, due to the time constraints, I only managed to marinade the chicken for 1.5 hours. It turned out great; the chicken was so tender and juicy and it was not too lemony at all. Just delicious!
Today, I am going to make it again, but will pair it with Curry Coconut Rice that I found on other website.. Yumm..

This is the best lemon chicken recipe ever! I absolutely agree that you need to use chicken thighs with bone-in and skin on. It makes all the difference in flavor and tenderness. I tried this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and it just wasn’t the same…sure maybe its healthier, but you don’t have to eat the skin if you don’t want too…just give it to someone who does want it. In my case my husband never passes it up. Since this was first posted I must have made it at least a dozen times. It goes really well over white rice because the rice absorbs the lemon flavor. Delicious! Thank you Elise for sharing! Its one of my absolute favorite recipes of all time.

d-lish; I halved the recipe and wished I had made more. I too used split breasts and unexpectedly marinated for over 24 hours! The bigger breast did fine and the others were not nearly as mushy as I had anticipated. This will be my go to chicken recipe from now on, thank you very much~

Made this for friends today and it was fantastic. Added a little extra virgin olive oil to the marinade (because it had to marinate longer, and I thought it would cut the acidity and lessen the mushiness) and some Cajun seasoning powder for a dash of heat and it turned out fabulously. I agree with others who have said bone-in chicken parts are much better than boneless breasts. I did use skinned pieces, but it tasted fantastic so no regrets.

Absolutely, hands-down, BEST lemon chicken! The recipe doubles easily and was a huge hit with my book club.

I used a mixture of breast and thighs, with the breasts cut in half as some one previously suggested. I marinated my chicken for about 5 hours. The chicken looked a little ugly when I took it out of fridge but cooked up beautifully!

Hi Elise, this is one of my favorite chicken recipes! Would I be able to toss some potatoes, carrots, or other vegetables in with the chicken for the roasting? None of the comments seem to mention doing any such thing, so I’m wondering if the lemon flavor would be too overwhelming in such a preparation or even if there’s a health risk to be concerned about.

Sure, we toss in root vegetables all the time with roasting chicken. They may take longer to cook than the chicken though, so you may want to take the chicken out of the oven before the veggies. Sort of depends on how big the pieces are of the veggies. No health risk that I know of btw. ~Elise

Loved this recipe. I refrigerated all the juices that were left over, and used them the following day in a rice dish. I cooked some brown rice risotto style, but instead of wine I used the yummy (chicken jelly gloop) juices. It was really amazing. Light, lemony…will have to make both again soon. :D

I tried out this recipe today for the first time and it came out great. I did make one change since I didn’t have the fresh herbs I used dried herbs de provence instead. Chicken came out moist and delicious. Will definitely make again.

Like Jackie, I too am without oven right now and use electric skillet. I drained chicken and browned each side, poured remaining juice from bag, covered simmered (chicken breasts) for 35 mins. Let rest for 5 minutes then took meat out, cooked down juice until brown and thickend and poured on top. Was delicious!!! Hope this helps Jackie!

Just wanted to shout out to this fabulous recipe! I have probably made it 10+ times since first reading it over a year ago… classic flavor combo that packs a punch!

I can see that a lot of people want to prepare and marinade the chicken a day in advance. I get it, I work until 5 pm each day and really can’t devote more than 45-60 minutes to cooking dinner. What has worked brilliantly for me is to put together the marinade with everything but the lemon juice. I do include the zest, and juice the lemon but reserve the juice! Then you can marinade overnight for convenience. The next day the chicken is ready to go straight in the oven, and you can add the lemon juice with the butter! It really helps keep the chicken skin crispy without having to prepare the dish two hours in advance.

I have also taken the same marinade and done a whole roasted chicken with the zested lemon in the cavity of the bird. It looks great when I want something really special.

I am a thigh person but my husband – totally breast! So when I am baking both thighs and breasts together I cut the breasts in half crosswise, so they are basically the same size/shape of the thighs. (I pull the breast pieces a bit earlier, though, as you suggest here.) It might seem unnecessary but I think it makes for a prettier presentation on a platter. Beautiful photo, by the way!

I have to thank you, I made this chicken tonight and oh my goodness the best chicken I’ve ever made! This is now going to be a staple in our house. I never heard about cutting into the chicken before the marinade, but wow it made a huge flavor differnece.

Elise..this is in the oven as I type this. But I’m going to be serving with and/or over buttered egg noodles instead of rice. My house smells absolutely divine!
I was surprised when I saw how little the marinade made, but it turned out to be the perfect amount. Usually I tend to overdo it on the marinade and have a ton left over. No waste this time!
Will try the chicken piccata recipe soon… Thanks for a great website, I can’t tell you how many times you’ve saved me from a boring dinner just because I couldn’t think of anything to make!

To the poster who asked about a way to infuse the flavor more with a shorter marinating time – try a Cajun Injector (the thing that looks like a big hypodermic needle – you can buy it at your local mega-mart)… you’d have to strain the marinade, but I bet it would work. And I bet this chicken (if there is any left over) would make an AMAZING chicken salad to put on those Cheddar Cheese Puffs ( http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cheddar_cheese_puffs ) for a light lunch. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…. can’t wait to try it.

Elise, I’ve been following your recipe blog for ages and have always loved your recipes but never commented through the website. But a couple of days ago I made your lemon chicken recipe and it was just so divine that I feel compelled to end my silence and tell you what a great service you’re providing to all the people out there who are searching for great, easy-to-make recipes. I’ve easily used 50+ of your recipes over time and they’ve never failed to produce a great dish, whether it’s your lemon chicken or your orange cornmeal cake or your Irish beef stew or fruitcake. Thank you for everything!
(p.s. When making desserts, I frequently add less sugar than you recommend, sometimes putting only half the amount you suggest. But that could be just a function of not having an American taste for sweets. I’ve always been really happy with the end-product even with half the sugar.)

This recipe is by far my favorite of all time… I LOVE IT! I found it a while ago, saved it, and never wrote down where it came from. I first thought it was by Ina Garten because all of the flawless recipes I come across seem to be hers, but I just recognized the picture of your serving dish and finally figured it out! That’s how long I’ve been making this for… thanks so much for the best dish ever!! Your blog is such a great and reliable place for full proof recipes.